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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Forget about bland tofu. This lemon tofu is incredibly tasty with a great texture. It reminds me of feta cheese but so fresh and lemony. I made tofu for the first time a few days ago with lemon for the coagulant and it was so lovely -- a lemon scented tofu, so white and yummy -- so much fresher and more delicious than any I've had before. It was fantastic in bokchoy ginger stir fry. The tofu I made today is similar but it's tangy and full of flavor. Spread it on a cracker or crumble it on a salad.

I wanted to try to create a spicy artisan tofu so I finally settled on lemon tofu again but this is a total lemon flavor zing -- more more more. The lemon scent in the regular tofu was so nice I just wanted to kick it up. I had to make a run to the store to get some Himalayan pink salt. If you haven't tried that salt look for it but regular salt will do too. I still had enough lemons in the frig. Himalayan salt really makes a difference in the flavor of foods.

Thinking of this recipe reminds me of some preserved meyers lemons I used to make 15 years ago. We had a tree so I'd slice up a whole lot of them and layer them in a bowl with lots of kosher salt between each layer. Put a plate on it and some weights and set it aside till it kinda dehydrates for a week and a lot of the lemon juice evaporates. Then pack it in jars and fill with olive oil. Keep it in sealed jars for a few weeks and then you can use it as a condiment. So this tofu is inspired by that.

You'll need a cooking thermometer, a colander or sieve, some rubber gloves, a big pot, a big bowl and some cans to use as weights - plus a piece of muslin or other cloth for straining. You'll also need a small bowl to use as a mold and of course soy beans, lemons and salt. I assume you don't have a tofu press because I know I don't and I have a lot of stuff. So I use a small bowl and some heavy tomato cans.

Put a big soup pot on the stove to boil with 5 cups of the water in it.

In the blender or food processor blend the soaked soybeans and soaking water in batches for a full minute for each batch. Add to the big pot.

Stir gently and constantly with a wooden spoon till it almost boils (or just begins to start to boil) again. It will foam like crazy so keep stirring in the foam. The foaming is why you need such a big pot. Sprinkle it with cold water if it starts to boil over. Once it's almost boiling turn down the heat enough to keep it under a boil and stir for 8 minutes while it cooks.

Line a colander or sieve with muslin. The muslin has to be big enough to hang over the sides. Put the colander over a big bowl to catch the soy milk. Ladle the bean mixture into it. Gather up the sides of the muslin and twist it a lot. Twist towards the bean pulp and that squeezes out the soy milk. Use rubber gloves to handle it because it's hot. Even with the gloves it's too hot for me. Do the best you can to compress the bag of hot pulp as much as possible till all the soy milk is squeezed out into your bowl. Try using the bottom of a jar or potato masher to squeeze and compress it against the sides of the colander. Good enough. Now you have fresh soy milk in your bowl -- voila.

Rinse out your big pot and add the soy milk back to it.

Heat up the soy milk with the thermometer in it till it just reaches between 150 and 155 degrees. Then take it off the heat.

With your wooden spoon ready pour in 1/2 of the lemon/water mixture into the 150 degree soy milk and stir 5 or 6 times in a big circle in the pot then stop with the spoon standing straight up in the liquid and wait a second or two for the soy milk to stop moving. Add the rest of the lemon/water mixture and stir in a figure eight 1 or 2 times till it starts to curdle. Stop stirring. Put the lid on it and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Rinse out your big bowl and set up the colander with muslin lining over the bowl to be ready.

Find a small bowl with straight sides or anything you want to mold the tofu in and find a flat lid that fits down into it. The lid should have a little space all around it. You'll be rigging up a tofu press and the space around the lid is where the whey drains out when you turn it upside down. The tofu has to be molded, drained and compressed all at the same time. If you mold it in the colander it's easier because you can set your weights right on top of the colander but I wanted to mold mine in something with straight sides. This is how I rigged it up with tomato cans as weights:

The upside down glass bowl in the middle has the tofu in it wrapped in muslin. The lid that sits inside the bowl is just peeking out in dark blue. The white bowl on the bottom is just any old bowl to catch the whey when it drains off. The tomato can on the bottom and top are pressing the tofu.

12. After it sits for 15 minutes spoon about 1/4 of the the curds into the muslin lined colander or sieve in layers, then add 1/4the of the salt and 1/4 of the grated lemon rind. Repeat the layers till it's all in. Gather up the sides of the muslin and ever-so-gently move it over to the mold. Wrap the muslin over the curds in layers, put on the lid that fits down into the mold. Set a big can in the bowl that will catch the whey as it drains out. As you hold the lid on with turn your mold over and balance it on the can. The whey will drain out into the bowl. Put another big can or two on top and let it sit for 15 minutes to drain.

13. Rinse your big bowl and fill it with cold water in the sink. Gently start to unwrap and -- easy does it, lift or kind of turn out the tofu with muslin into the water and gently unwrap it while it's being supported by the water. The purpose of being so careful is to get it in the water and to keep it from breaking. Move the muslin away gently and set the tofu free floating in the water. Mine was really fragile at this point but I managed to get it free into the water without breaking it.

14. For 15 minutes let water run cold into the bowl near but not touching the tofu. I put a corner of muslin over part of the bowl so the water would not hit the tofu.

To serve it or move it to a container without breaking it, try scooping the container down into the big bowl it's chilling in and floating it into the container. The cool water supports it a little bit to help keep it from breaking. Once it's safely in it's container, put some salted water with a squeeze of lemon in into the bowl

Slice it and try it on crackers with a drizzle of olive oil. This is so delicious. So tangy and fresh. Soy has a glycemic index of 15 so you won't be hungry for hours.

OKARA CRACKERS

These crackers are so irresistible. Okara is the bean pulp left over from making soy milk. The flavor in these comes from a little bit of sesame oil, whole wheat flour and salt. Okara is very appetizing and can be used in lots of ways. I made these crackers and a good vegetable soup out of it. I left these crackers out on the counter and they are dissappearing fast. They are a low glycemic food soy is 15 and whole wheat flour 35 and sesame oil is 0.

Put okara, whole wheat flour, sesame oil and salt in a small bowl and mix it with a fork till it's blended.

Add some water and stir until you can gather it into a ball.

Knead it about 6 to 10 times with flour as needed to keep it from being sticky. Cut it into little 1" blocks.

Flour your work surface and roll the little pieces in flour. With a rolling pin or glass jar roll them out flat in one direction on a floured surface and flip them a couple of times as you roll so they form long narrow strips of thin dough. Use plenty of flour on your rolling surface to coat them and keep them from sticking.

Put them one layer deep on an ungreased cookie sheet and salt them. Note: They did not stick to my cookie sheet. If you think they are going to stick make sure they are well dredged in flour

Put them in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour turning them every 20 minutes. Then take them out. They should be puffed a bit, really crispy, totally dried out and crunchy and not at all flexible or chewy. If they are a little bit chewy put them back into the oven at 200 degrees till they are crisp -- 1 to 2 hours as needed. Turn them every now and then. I had to bake for an additional 2 hrs at 200 degrees to get mine nice and crunchy.

Spread the lemon tofu on these crackers. Crumble the tofu into a little bowl with a little olive oil, fresh ground black pepper, salt and a squeeze of lemon juice and spread it on the okara cracker. I think it's a little like feta cheese when you put extra lemon juice on it.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

I just had to know whether and how good tofu is for pre-diabetics. I kept reading that it was good but I wanted the numbers. It actually took me almost as long to find it on the internet as it did to make tofu yesterday. Some days things just take longer.

Tofu is a really good food for pre-diabetics. Wow. It's right up there with green beans and steamed cauliflower -- 20 on the glycemic index. That's really low.

The Official Glycemic Index website says people with pre-diabetes should choose to eat more low GI foods, a ranking number of 55 or less, to help prevent fluctuations in blood sugar and the onset of diabetes.

I'm going to try making some spicy tofu tomorrow. Something to crumble on top of a salad or spread on a wrap. Maybe sun dried tomato and basil, lemon tofu or something exotic tomorrow. I'm soaking the beans right now and I want to spice it with something I have on hand. I have garlic powder and diced green chilis, cayenne pepper...that's a way to go. I read somewhere that you can add salt and flavorings to the curds before you mold them.

Here is the reference for how good tofu is for pre-diabetics.

The Glycemic Index The glycemic index is a scientifically derived rating of how high a particular food will raise blood sugar within the first two hours after eating. This is important because higher blood sugars cause higher insulin levels in the blood which along with the higher blood sugar levels are detrimental to health. High insulin levels lead to increased appetite, increased fat storage (and thus weight gain), an adverse effect on cholesterol and ultimately an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Foods with a glycemic index of less than 50 are considered low, 50 to 74 medium and 75 and above high. Lower glycemic foods promote good health and weight loss. Though ratings can vary slightly, the glycemic index of edamame is 23, soymilk is 43, and tofu is less than 20. For comparison, here are the glycemic indexes of common foods: baked potato 158, white bread 100, whole wheat bread 99, apple 56, orange 47, kidney beans 42, whole milk 39, peanuts 21, meat, seafood and fish less than 20 and green vegetables less than 20.Our Ohio Magazinewww.glycemicindex.com

Monday, January 31, 2011

I made tofu today. It's not that hard. The only thing I had to buy was soy beans. I used fresh squeezed lemon juice to thicken it. It has a lemon scent and the texture is perfect. Thank you to blogger Rachel [http://www.lafujimama.com/2009/09/how-to-make-tofu-no-fancy-equipment/] for doing all the hard part -- researching and testing. I just followed her instructions to the letter and it came out perfect.

I had to hunt up a bunch of stuff I don't use that often like my candy thermometer, a piece of muslin and some rubber gloves. The muslin was handy because I've been sewing that comfort cover with muslin....a stroke of luck. The rubber gloves were sad looking but ... that's okay, I found them and they worked.

It took about 1 1/2 hours to make but most of the time spent was doing other stuff while waiting for it to rest between steps.

Rinse and the soak 1 1/3 cups of organic soy beans in 4 1/2 cups of fresh water overnight 8 to 12 hours.

Blend them in the blender or food processor in batches with the water till it's really soupy and creamy about 2 minutes for each batch.

Boil 5 cups of fresh water in a really large soup pot. Add the batches to the boiling water. Heat and stir till it almost boils and then turn the heat down to keep it cooking but not boiling for 8 minutes. Stirring with a wooden spoon. It foams like crazy...foam, foam, foam. That's why you need a really large pot.

Get a big bowl and put a colander in it. Line the colander with the muslin -- letting it drape evenly over the sides. Ladle the hot mixture into the muslin lined colander.

Gather up the sides of the muslin and twist and twist and squeeze, twist and squeeze to get as much soy milk as you can squeezed out of the pulp and into the bowl. Use rubber gloves to protect your hands from the heat as you twist and squeeze.

Put the resulting soy pulp into an airtight container and put it in the fridge or freezer. The soy pulp is called okara. It's really nutritious and you can make veggie burgers and yummy stuff like muffins out of it later. I'll let you know what I settle on to use it for.

Rinse out your big pot and put the soy milk back into it. Heat it up with your thermometer in it again to 150 - 155 degrees.

When you get to 150 degrees, take it off the heat and pour in 1/2 the lemon/water mixture and stir around and around in a circle just 5 or 6 times then hold the spoon straight up till the liquid stops moving.

Add the rest of the lemon/water and stir in a swirling motion gently a few times till you notice it's coagulating.

Cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Plan what container you are going to mold the tofu in. I used a small straight sided bowl and I turned it upside down to drain because it did not have drain holes in it. I found a flat plastic lid that fit inside the bowl. It has to have drainage so the whey can drain away that's why I turned it upside down with the lid in place and balanced it on top of a can of tomatoes in a bowl. Rachel says you can make it in the colander using a plate on top and weights on it if you want. It just needs to compress and drain. Rig something up or buy a tofu mold.

Ladle the curds very gently into the colander that you've lined with your rinsed muslin again. Gather up the muslin by the sides but this time don't squeeze. Lift it gently (muslin and all) into your mold bowl. Spread out the muslin and fold all 4 sides individually over the mold to cover the top and put a plate or lid on it that fits down into the bowl. Hold the lid in place with two fingers as you turn the whole thing over on top of a can of something that's sitting in a bowl to catch the whey. The whey starts to drain off as soon as you turn it over. Balance it upside down on top of a can and the can presses the lid upward.

Put 2 cans (2 to 3 lbs of weights) on top of the upside down bowl and let it compress and sit for 15 minutes. A lot of whey will continue to drain out.

Fill a big bowl with cold water in the sink.

Very gently uncover and remove the muslin as you slide the cake of tofu ever-so-carefully into the cold water and float the naked block of tofu as it's sinking into the cold water.

Run a dribble of cold fresh water over it for 15 minutes as it drains in the sink. Put a corner of muslin over the water bowl to protect the tofu from getting hit with running water.

It's ready to eat. Or you may put in the fridge covered with cold water. It'll last for a few days.

The taste is lightly lemony, fragrant, pure white and delicious. It doesn't taste like any tofu I've had before. I cut it into nice square chunks and tasted it's mild freshness with a hint of lemon..mmmBraggs. Wow it just melts in my mouth. It's so totally fresh, delicate, and wholesome tasting

I can't wait to make something with it for dinner -- steamed vegetables with sauteed tofu and a spicy sauce. Douglass will be impressed. He'll love it.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I'm still working on making wraps with sprouted wheat flour. I got the sprouted wheat berries nicely dehydrated but my plan to use the food processor to make sprouted wheat flour did not work and my coffee grinder is no longer working. I think it lasted me about 10 years of daily use so maybe it just needs to be replaced. So if you tried the recipe for sprouted wheat wraps I apologize. I'll keep you posted.

I made sprouted bean soup today though with the medly of beans that I sprouted. Not all of them sprouted but more than 1/2 had a tiny sprout starting. I cooked them in water with 1 tsp of italian herbs for 1/2 hour then added a (2 cup) bullion cube, a can of stewed tomatoes, a few leaves of kale chopped and salt and pepper. Simmer it for 15 minutes and it's a really good soup. Simmer longer if the beans are not done enough.

Monday, October 25, 2010

This weekend is a good example of when life gets in the way of trying to be healthy and keeping stress at bay. We ate out and that wasn't too healthy. We didn't exercise and didn't get the chores done. I've got a really bad attitude today.

Having 2 batches of sprouts growing should cheer me up a teeny bit. Two kitties meandering around here....that's something that usually cheers me up. Douglass lost another pound. And it's our 7th anniversary today and I'm so grateful for Douglass. We are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Enough with counting my blessings. It's an autumn cold Monday and since I worked a 14 hour day on a weekend yesterday at MudSlingers my dishes are piled up and I'm not in the mood to go to work. So I have a right to be grumpy.

I'm still trying to find time to test out the wraps recipe. I tried it with regular flour last week and it was incredible but I want to try it with sprouted wheat flour. I got some sprouted wheat berries dried in the dehydrator Saturday so I can try to make sprouted wraps as soon as I get over being grumpy. I need to put it into the food processor and see if it makes flour.

I'm sprouting brown rice and experimenting with sprouting a medley of beans. I bought the bean soup mix of beans that comes with a flavor packet in the bag. Some of the beans in the medley are spouting -- like the Lima beans and lentils.

Besides the fact that we did NO exercise this weekend and I didn't get to see Henry and Clementina things are not as gloomy as they seem.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

I went searching for prediabetes inspiration this morning and found two things. Being that I love anything to do with sprouts. I found out how to make sprouted wheat flour so I'll let you in on that. I want to try to make my own sprouted wheat wraps. The other thing I found is a really good article on plant based diet.

Since we have a prediabetes problem and need to lose 15% of body weight I'm trying to save my husband's life by making really yummy foods that will cause his weight to go down. That's my fun goal. His part in the program is harder -- not falling prey to the almost impossible temptations of life in the office -- insidiously addictive salty, crunchy, sweetie and fatty foods. OMG!!! He's really good at resisting most of them. We've both experienced insidious foods jumping into our hands and making their way to our mouths in an instant, when it's not what you intended at all. These foods (My nemesis is Pringles) don't quit. They keep after you to eat them -- eat them AAALLL.

www.dictionary.com in·sid·i·ous
–adjective
1. intended to entrap or beguile: an insidious plan.
2. stealthily treacherous or deceitful: an insidious enemy.
3. operating or proceeding in aninconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect: an insidious disease.

The Getting Enough Protein in a Plant Based Diet article I found today gives a lot of good menus and suggestions for a plant based diet. We are trying to eat plants only about 90% of our meals. Our ideal diet right now is lots of lightly steamed vegetables and non-sweet fruits, no meat or dairy, nothing fermented or with yeast, and limited whole grains.

This is what the "vegkitchen" article says:

Whole grains, legumes, soy products, and nuts and seeds are primary protein sources in a plant-based diet. And nearly all vegetables contribute to daily protein needs.

The benefits of plant-based diets are numerous and include:

Weight control: It's hard to get fat, or stay fat, on this type of diet. Grains, legumes and soy foods are bulky and filling, yet contain virtually no fat. They provide a feeling of fullness that keeps the body fueled and satisfied for hours.

Disease prevention:
Plant-based diets are high in fiber and low in fat. In numerous studies, high-fiber, low-fat diets have consistently been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and rates of certain cancers such as those of the colon, breast and prostate. In addition, this type of diet is believed to reduce the risk of diabetes, hemorrhoids and colitis.

Economy:
It's hard to match the economic value of bulk grains and legumes supplemented with fresh produce carefully chosen in season. Even a ready-to-eat food such as tofu aver ages about $1.50 a pound--far less expensive than most meats and fish.

Variety:
Those who have cut back on or eliminated meat have discovered a world of diverse foods. And diversity is not only fun and appetizing, it's also a healthful way to eat, ensuring a balance of essential nutrients.

Ecology:
Many environmentally aware consumers derive satisfaction from "eating low on the food chain" that is, getting the bulk of their diets from plant-based foods. It's not only good for the body, reducing the intake of pesticide and animal antibiotic residues, but also for the planet as livestock deplete enormous land and water resources.

Okay so that's the prediabetes inspiration for the day. Now for the yummy sprouted wheat wraps. Thess have just the most fantastically delicious fresh flavor. The coconut oil adds a wonderful subtle toasty flavor. Eat them hot right out of the skillet or save them for a brown bag lunch.

I already have some wheat berry sprouts sitting waiting for me in the fridge in a plastic bag with a paper towel in it. They keep for quite a while and are continuing to grow in there but not too fast since it's so cold. To make some soak 2 cups wheat berries overnight or about 8 to 12 hours, drain and cover loosely and let them sit on your counter out of direct sunlight. Rinse them every 5 to 10 hours till they have a sprout about the same size as the berry.

This morning I'm dehydrating the sprouted wheat berries which takes about 6 hours. At the DIY link above they provide instructions for dehydrating in the oven so I tried that first because it was easier than going to get my dehydrator downstairs in storage. I couldn't get my oven to go low enough to 120 degrees and I felt I was not going to be happy with turning it on for 5 minutes of every hour like DIY suggested so I went and found the dehydrator, plugged it in and now it's working away all morning, circulating warmish air around the sprouts and drying them. Put only 1/2 of your fresh sprouts in the dehydrator to make flour our of and leave the rest in the fridge for now. We'll use those sprouts fresh in the wraps.

I tried making wraps a couple of days ago with regular whole wheat flour and fresh sprouts. They were just so tasty and nutty fresh tasting -- even more flavorful and chewy than the excellent sprouted grain wraps you can get in the stores around here. So I'm embarking on another healthy step to make them with sprouted wheat flour. They should be good.

My plan once the sprouts are dehydrated is to pulse them in the blender to make flour.

Set that aside and then pulse fresh wheat berry sprouts

Add the sprouted grain flour little by little with the coconut oil until it makes a sticky dough.

To preheat your skillet turn it on low for about 5 minutes before you put the spray oil in it.

Make it into balls and dredge in sprouted flour.

Put each ball between wax paper or parchment sheets and press down.

Roll with a rolling pin so they are thin.

Peel off the top sheet of wax paper and flip over into a preheated skillet sprayed with oil and cook on low heat for a minute. When the wheat wrap is warmed in the skillet -- about 1 minute -- peel off the second sheet of wax paper and cook 2 more minutes till you see some darkening spots then flip and cook the second side 3 minutes.

It comes out stiffer than the store bought sprouted grain wraps. When you take it out of the pan carefully fold it in half while it's still a little flexible so you can stuff it with good fillings later.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I'm so bummed. I was ticking around on the Internet today looking at what other folks have on their pre-diabetes websites and I found out that periodontal disease is not just sore bleeding gums. Yikes! It causes pre-diabetes and diabetes and heart disease. I put the article up on my blog so you can check it out. It's the 2008 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) article about the science. It's in the tab under Amazing Pre-Diabetes Articles. So while I am busy exercising and losing 15% of my body weight to cure pre-diabetes going to the dentist takes on increased importance. We gotta get our gums checked and treated. There is treatment (every 3 months cleaning and scraping and such) and medicine (mouthwashes) they can give you that will help keep it kinda controlled. Going to the dentist every 3 months is pretty easy. The hard part is being really consistent with the stepped up flossing and water jetting I have to do.

I thought the reason I had to control gum disease was to keep from losing the bone around my teeth. Of course I don't want to lose any more of it. I've lost some bone. I have pretty severe gingivitis for at least 10 years but I've not lost any teeth. I go to the dentist every 3 months for periods of time and then I let it go for a while --- like a year. Then I get back with the program for a while. I have a good dentist now so I'm hoping to keep up the program for ever.

The home cure (in addition to going to the dentist) is to brush twice a day, floss at least once per day, and use a water pick or other brand of machine that shoots a fast jet stream of water between your gums and teeth. Also you need to get a new toothbrush every 3 months.

I brush twice a day which is good and I do have a water pick and those little "P" shaped plastic things you can use for flossing. I'm fast with those things -- scraping 5 times the side of each tooth like lightening. But I'm pretty poor at flossing regularly -- every day. If I have a dental appointment coming up I start to really take care of my gums. I floss every day till my teeth squeak and use the water pick after I brush. I've been known to do this twice a day for about 10 days before my appointment. Fear is my motivator. I don't want to find out it's gotten a lot worse. I've had gum surgery several times. The other thing that motivates me is that I don't want to be disappointed that my gums are worse. When you go in the hygienist measures how deep the little pockets are between your teeth and gums and you get the numbers -- 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. They compare them to the numbers of the last visit. After the dental appointment within about 3 days I forget to keep doing it. I just brush, unless I notice my breath is bad or if I have a meeting I'm getting ready for ... then I take up flossing and water jetting till I start forgetting again.

I take Quercetin with Bromelain every morning to keep the inflammation down. That's an easy step in the right direction. A dentist I went to in Bethesda prescribed that. But I'm really pretty hit or miss for the flossing and water picking other wise.

I wonder how to get motivated to be more consistent about that. I expect writing this and reading all about periodontal disease and what causes it and how it causes pre-diabetes and heart disease is going to be motivational for about 3 days.

Test for Diabetes from the Centers for Disease Control

Signs and Symptoms:- drowsiness after meals- intense mood swings- ravenous hunger after eating- high triglycerides and cholesterol- overweight- fat in the abdominal area- dark patches of skin on the neck and armpit area

What is Metabolic Syndrome?It is a constellation of conditions that include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and insulin resistance. People are up to 2.5 times more likely to die of heart related conditions than those who do not have the condition

What is the difference between Pre-Diabetes and Insulin Resistance?There is no difference. Insulin resistance is pre-diabetes.